Surveying instrument tripod head



0d. 21, 1952 w BUFF SURVEYING INSTRUMENT TRIPOD HEAD Filed Jan. 50 1951INVENTOR.

Patented Oct. 21, 1952 uNiTEn-i; STAT PATENT OFFICER;

SURVEYING INSTRUMENTTEIPOD HEAKD' William-Ii Buff; Monmouth-Beach; rJ-J.s1 Application January 30, lesrins riarnc;202x41 1 Claims C1. 2481-3177)? 1:

1 This. invention relates to surveying instruments especiallytransits;'theo dolites, and levels and particularly to thetripod therefor.

A principalobjeotof this invention'isto provide a constructionof tripodheads which will'facilitatethe-attachmentthereto of the trivet plate orbase of transits; theodolites, levels and the like provided -with=trivetplates or basesyof various diameters and formed with various pitchscrew-- threads.

Another object of the inventionis to provide a device: of the-typespecified in which the tripod head-will be so constructed that trivetplate receiving means are easily removable and replace- Otherobj-ects:andadvantageswillappear as the Indescribingztheiinvention in detail andthe particular physical embodiment selected to illustrate theinvention,reference will be had to the accompanying drawings and theseveral views thereon,--in which like characters of reference designatelike parts throughout the several'views;

and in which: r

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of atripod head with my invention appliedthereto; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a; tripod head with my-inventionapplied thereto 1 with a diiierent diameter trivet plate shown therein;Fig. 3 is a topplan view of the spider of my improved tripod head; Fig.4 is a side elevationaliview of the device as shown by Fig. 1.

It is'well knownby.thosetfamiliari with the art of itransits,a-rtheodolites, levels, I plane tables;

meteorological instruments and the like that they are commonly supportedby a three legged support. This tripod generally includes a spider atthe top having three branches to each of which a leg of the tripod isattached. This spider has a flanged screw-threaded boss formed integralwith the spider.

The instrument to be supported by the tripod is formed with :aninternally screw-threaded collar or trivet plate which corresponds ininternal diameter and pitch of thread to that of the flanged boss on thetop of the spider so that the two may be attached together byscrew-threading one upon the other.

It is also well known that the various makes of instruments are notprovided with the trivet plate all of the same internal diameter andscrewthread pitch. There is almost always a decided variance between theAmerican made instruments and foreign made instruments.

The'result of the condition-mentioned,--is that a completetripod-mustbesupplied for-eachtype of instrument;- If the tripod head for a" particuiI lar instrument becomes damaged, it is necessary to "makea completetripod-head; includingthe spiderp 'for' the instrument; "Thisconditionis especially-undesirable for -the-suppliers of tripodsandtripod-heads because of thelar'ge amount of costly materialwhichmustlieidle'in a stockof tripod'headsl invention obviates the-difiiculties 'of the present conditions: invention-separates the spiderfrom-the*-trivet-"receivingithreaded boss; By'--my---invention; onemavmake spiders of universalapplication; To' prepare suchya spider as atripod head "for a given instrumentjgit is only necessary to select theproperflanged trivet plate receiving screWi-threaded "boss and; attach;the e sameto thespider y In the-practice. of my invention I, provide aspider -l usually having ,three branches 2; 3 and; 4. Each of-these-branches-is provided with h orifices as '5 "5 and I, "These:orifices serve" to receivethepin which is used to pass through the upperpart .of thebifurcated tripod In-order to strengthen thejisides', as Band 9, of a branch, I provi'dega Web"|0 extending";froin sidetoside andfrom top to botto'm.,;

I also'provideein each oi the branchesa bolt receiving web as Ll." This.Webis .of a" suitable] thickness and extends irdm the web ,ID to the;

Thejabove constructiongof my spider with ,the'

websilfl and l 1 very greatlystrengthens thespider so that alittle'cxtraistress is not likelyto distort thespidel'; n

In each of the Webs I l, I provide a screwthreaded bore [3.

The spider l is readily attached to each of the three legs of a tripodand presents a plane upper surface and also a through space as at [4suitable for passing various needed instrumentalities, such as the cordsupporting a plumb bob to the center of the instrument to be attachedand supported by the tripod.

positioned that they line up with the screwthreaded bores, as is, in thewebs ll so that by means of the-screws I firmly attach the flange plateid to the spider l.

Of course I have shown flat-headed screws as he fastening means, but Ido not intend to exclude other forms of screws or even bolts as thefastening means as any suitable and proper fastening means may be used.

The flange plates l must be made and stocked separate and independentfrom the spiders l. Furthermore the flange plates it? may be made of anyexternal diameter and the outside diameter of the boss thereof, as ll,may be made of any external diameter and provided with any form or pitchof any external diameter and provided with any form or pitch ofscrew-thread as ll. In Fig. 2 I have shown a flange plate 2 3 of alarger diameter than the flange plate it of Fig. 1. From this view itcan be seen that the flange plate may be made of a diameter such that itprojects beyond the ends of the spiders branches as 2, 3 and Of course Ido not intend to confine my inven- It will be noted that the web 53having the opening l9 therein allows a through space from top to bottomof the tripod head, so that space is provided for either a plumb bobstring, as is usual, or the usual projection with spring and nut as isapplied to those surveying instruments which are commonly operated bythree leveling screws instead of four.

From the hereinbefore given description it will now be understood that Ihave provided a tripod head of extremely simple design which allows themanufacturer to stock the spider thereof with assurance that it may beused in making a complete tripod head regardless of the typeofinstrument to be fitted. The manufacturer may also stock the commonlyrequired flange plates is of the proper diameter and the proper boss andtype of screw-thread and pitch of screw-thread as will be most commonlyrequired by the various type of instruments usually supplied withtripods. It is also to be understood that one having a large number ofinstruments, such as transits, theodolites and levels, may have aminumum number of tripods, and flange plates, as it, suitable forreceiving the various instruments, and may, for the purpose of using oneparticular instrument, remove one type of flange l5 from the spider land replace it by another type of flange plate, such as flange plate 26.In this way the number of tripods needed may be materially reduced.

Not only is my improved tripod head suitable for transit, theodolitesand levels, but it is also suitable for supporting a plane table. Inthat case it might well be that the plane table would interposition of aflange plate such as l 5.

In addition to supporting the usual instrument for surveying, the tripodis also useful for sup porting the somewhat similar instruments, such asmeteorologic instruments.

Although I have particularly described one particular physicalembodiment of my invention and explained the construction and principlethereof, nevertheless, I desire to have it understood that the formselected is merely illustrative, but does not exhaust the possiblephysical embodiments of the idea of means underlying my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A tripod head for supporting instruments pron combination a spider,formed with a of branches each formed with two side ,nd an end Wall witha through bore in the with a threads, orifice, and a separable hangsplate formed 3, th a boss provided with a thread, said flange plateformedwith an ular web extending toward the center of the ner diameterof the threaded gning w cooperati g with the through threaded Lt as erthe webs of the spider branches, WILLIAM IBUFF.

CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:Y

UNITED STATES PATENTS Nan e Date 588,552 Brownell Aug. 24, 1897 59931,692 Fyfe' Aug. '17, 1909 FOREIGN PATEWTS I inher Country Date M235,849 Great Britain June 24, 1926 359,679

be secured directly to the spider l or after thewith an internallythreaded trivet plate,

s to receive a pin adapted to pass through "nectlng the two side walls,each ,Web

to, said annular web formed with throughbores- Germany Oct. 27, 1921

